With strategy and direction in place, it’s all systems go for the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League.
The Women’s Professional Lacrosse League (WPLL) concluded its second season last Sunday with the Brave defeating the Fight 13-12 to win the WPLL championship. The championship game was played at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, MD.
The WPLL consists of five teams–Brave, Flight, Command, Fire, and Pride–that play a four-game regular-season schedule. The top four teams play semi-final games with the winner of those games playing for the league championship.
This year, the WPLL played a city-based model with all teams traveling to a different city to play each week’s games. The squads played in Foxborough, MA (twice), Richmond, Baltimore, and Long Island, NY.
The league also sent a combined squad to Great Britain with representatives across the five teams. While there, the WPLL played the English National Team and conducted clinics for players and fans.
Courtesy: Prowomenslax.com
It wasn’t the only partnership, either. The WPLL and Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) played games in tandem in Foxborough and Baltimore. Fans got ticket deals to watch multiple WPLL games and a PLL game on the same day or weekend, depending on the schedule. The two leagues also created and used a slogan to promote their relationship….
#BetterTogether
The partnership makes sense, too. “Every great professional sports league has a growing period, and for the PLL/WPLL to come together at such an early stage in their development is simply miraculous,” said Alex Hermanson of the Outside of the Box Podcast. “They’ll have an opportunity to develop through one another and grow the game at a faster rate. I predict that they will be two of the most most popular leagues in the U.S. in the next five years and that the WPLL will be the most popular women’s league across all sports,” Hermanson told the audience.
I agree. Through social media and the ability to distribute games across multiple platforms, both leagues will grow the game of pro lacrosse. And something else is important, too–making strides in gender equality. In lacrosse, as in other sports, there are male-female gaps in pay, facilities, and overall recognition.
Another goal is to elevate the status of the WPLL so that it’s as popular as the WNBA– America’s most recognizable women’s league-based professional sport at the moment.
You can follow the WPLL on Twitter @prowomenslax and via the league’s website (go here).
